Massimo Pavan has urged Juventus to treat as much like a final after falling behind in the race to win Serie A this season.

The Old Lady has seen AC Milan and Napoli rocket off into the distance at this early stage in the season, with both dropping just two points from their opening 10 matches, leaving Juve trailing both by 13 points already.

It is hard to gauge if either of the current leaders will be able to keep up that momentum of course, but with such a mountain to climb the manager Max Allegri is already ruling us out of the race for top spot.

Pavan insists that our position at present is ‘serious’, but calls on the team to treat each match like it is a cup final, as well as telling the manager that he needs to find a way to motivate his main star Federico Chiesa.

“The situation is not dramatic but it is serious, what we can do is one thing,” Massimo is quoted as saying by TuttoJuve. “To play all the matches as final immediately, with serenity, conviction and determination, whoever plays must prove to be Juventus. Allegri must understand how to improve the performance of the Church that no longer enlightens.”

It is always easy from the outside, and the team will no doubt have to go back to focusing on each match as it comes, with playing our best team at every given opportunity regardless of our fixture schedule or opponents.

Patrick